


The Adventure Of The Vatican Cameos

by Cerdic519



Series: Further Adventures Of Mr. Sherlock Holmes [47]
Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Victorian, Disguise, F/M, False Identity, Italy, M/M, Murder, Slow Burn, Untold Cases of Sherlock Holmes, Vatican Cameos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 10:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15338124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerdic519/pseuds/Cerdic519
Summary: Sherlock has to investigate a theft in distant Italy, and proves both that it did not happen and that the wrong man was buried – without even stirring from Baker Street!





	The Adventure Of The Vatican Cameos

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Calais_Reno](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calais_Reno/gifts).



_Introduction by Sir Sherrinford Holmes, Baronet_

This was another of those 'stretched out cases' as Kean calls them (he had had me stretched out when he came up with the phrase, so the fact that I recalled it at all was quite impressive in my humble opinion). It concerned events that had taken place that summer but were not brought to Sherlock's attention until two days after the collapse of the Farridge trial. It was definitely one of his most unusual adventures in that he solved a problem that had taken place many hundreds of miles away without ever leaving Baker Street, an achievement over which he was of course quite modest. 

I so want to punish Kean for that snigger but the horny bastard would enjoy it. And he knows I would too. 

What am I doing just sitting here? Excuse me.....

۩۩۩۩V♔RI۩۩۩۩

_Narration by Doctor John Hamish Watson, M.D._

I have remarked elsewhere how much I resented those who complained that Holmes never left London unless he had to. The brilliance that powered his brain manifested itself in a determination to make the best of his gifts, which sometimes led him to remark scornfully (if accurately) about the modern police force's tendency to run round and be more concerned about being seen to do something that actually doing anything. Although with London still on edge after the Ripper murders, I felt that Londoners had every right to be demanding of the policemen whose wages they paid.

It was curious, I felt, how all three Holmes brothers had achieved great success in their own way. Sherlock of course was the brilliant detective, his brother Mycroft was a powerful force in the British government, and his other brother Sherrinford was, as I have said, a highly successful businessman, whose 'empire' now ran to some fifteen molly-houses. One of the reasons for that success was the absolute discretion practised within the walls of his and Mr. Hardland's establishments, but even so I was surprised when one of his 'gentlemen' called on us for assistance. Indeed he was to be one of the small band of people whom we would meet in more than one case. 

The young man's name was Mr. Pietro Falcone, and he was the special emissary to His Holiness the Pope. Mr. Falcone was then not quite thirty years of age, with a hawkish face and slicked back black hair which glistened in the late autumn light of our rooms. Holmes, who could be a bastard at times, had referred to page forty-seven of his brother Sherrinford's catalogue in which our guest and his twin brother Paolo were wearing ancient Greek outfits as 'Castor and Pollux'. Very short outfits. And they were definitely Italian men.

“This is a most difficult matter”, our young visitor said, sitting down carefully in the fireside chair (I tried and failed to not think why that was). “As you are doubtless aware, the position of His Holiness is dangerous enough as it is, given the political situation back in Italy.”

That was true. It was then just under twenty years since the unification of Italy had forced the Pope to retreat within the walls of the Vatican, from where he loudly and uselessly expressed his fury at the new regime that was to all intents and purposes besieging him.

“This concerns a politically explosive theft”, Mr. Falcone continued. “In the past two decades the rogues and villains in Rome have systematically stripped the Holy Father of his lands and possessions up and down the peninsula. Indeed, it was perhaps surprising that they omitted to take in this small place, and now.... well!”

“What has been stolen?” I asked.

“The Vatican Cameos!” he groaned.

“What are they, precisely?” Holmes asked.

“They were given as a gift to the Papacy towards the end of the fifteenth century”, Mr. Falcone explained. “No-one is quite sure by who or even to which pope; there was much division in the Holy Church at that time. They are also known as the Rainbow Cameos, as each is a different colour of the spectrum. Each featured a different historically important pope. They were originally seven in number but at the start of this century an artist provided a further three in grey, brown and black, to commemorate three more illustrious popes. And now they have been stolen!”

“You would not require us to go to Italy?” I said doubtfully. One of my wife's relatives (of whom there seemed to be far too many) was visiting the following week and I would doubtless be asked to show them round. After the last one I was dreading the prospect.

“Let us see what can be done here first”, Holmes said. “Where were these precious jewels kept, sir?”

“That is the most surprising part of the whole thing, perhaps”, our guest conceded. “It was believed that the Holy Father had secured them and taken them with him into the Vatican at his entrapment. In truth they were kept at a small private house that had a chapel attached; we knew that the Italian authorities were searching anyone who entered the Vatican, regardless of diplomatic niceties. From what happened I can only presume that someone talked and their true location became known to the villains in Rome.”

“The authorities seized the house on August the twenty-seventh”, he continued. “The cameos were definitely there on the twenty-sixth because the people in charge of the house then had three guests round for dinner, and the gentleman in charge checked them before and after as was his wont. Hence they disappeared sometime overnight. Now the authorities are blaming papal agents for stealing their treasures, whilst the Pope is claiming that the Italians actually have them and just want to make trouble.”

“Why would the Italians claim that papal agents did it?” I wondered.

“Not having the blessing of the leader of the world’s Catholics is irritating, even amongst the irreligious Italian leadership”, Holmes explained. “They might hope to force concessions in return for their ‘suddenly finding’ the lost treasures. You do not think that the Italians have them, sir?”

“No I do not”, Mr. Falcone said. “The person in charge of getting hold of them when the house was to be seized was one Mr. Marcus Latimer – his mother was Italian and his father English – and he is possibly up for promotion soon so this is a disaster for him. And he has several family members across Italy; even of he did have the cameos he could hardly flee the country and expect them to not face certain.... repercussions.”

I could guess all too well what he meant by that.

“So that brings us to the people present in the home at the time the cameos disappeared”, Holmes said. _“Dramatis personae?”_

“Only four people”, Mr. Falcone said. When we both looked surprised at that, he explained. “It is but a small house set some way apart from the town, where a saint once performed a miracle in creating a well. They did not have many servants to start with but now it is just an elderly couple and their nephew who was visiting at the time of the raid.”

“Timely”, I muttered. Holmes quirked an eyebrow at my cynicism but did not remark on it.

“The elderly couple are the Columbos, Nico and Benedicta”, Mr. Falcone said. “They are surely beyond reproach; they have spent almost all their married lives there taking possession when the last couple wanted to retire over thirty years ago. Since the cameos have been in their possession for all this time they could easily have taken them before now.”

“Their nephew Mr. Luigi Gallo, I have to say, is another matter. He is in some financial troubles I understand, and selling something like the cameos would set him up for life. He has been involved in a couple of instances of irregular financial practice but nothing openly illegal. As yet. And the empty cameo case was found under his bed.”

“A thoroughly stupid place in which the real thief would never hide something so incriminating”, Holmes said acidly. “The fourth person was an Italian government agent, was he not?”

Our visitor nearly jumped out of his chair.

“Sir!” he all but yelled. “How on earth did you know that?”

Holmes smiled knowingly. Our visitor recovered and fell back.

“You are right”, he conceded. “He was a priest called Father Calocerus. He was named for the saint who performed the miracle of the well and was a local man, although he had only moved to the house from a nearby monastery quite recently. He lived in a hermit cell on the grounds and spent most of his time praying in the small chapel there.”

“You keep saying ‘was’”, I observed. “Has something happened to him?”

“Father Calocerus took a train for Rome but he barely made it out of the station. The ticket collector found him less than five minutes after the train had departed, stripped bare with all his clothes next to him. And he remembered that the man had been carrying a small box with a handle, which had of course vanished.”

I wondered why the murderer had gone to all the trouble of stripping their victim. Holmes thought for a moment.

“How did they identify the body?” he asked at last.

“He had had a distinctive ring that was engraved with his patron saint”, Mr. Falcone said, “and it was later identified by the old couple. It was in his jacket pocket, which was also curious.”

“I think that I need more information”, Holmes said. “Do you have physical descriptions of Mr. Gallo, Father Calocerus and the government agent sent to spy on the latter.”

I feared that poor Mr. Falcone was going to fall out of his chair. Holmes sighed.

“Governments expect everyone to behave in as shabby and untrusting a way as they themselves would”, he said. “They would see that the temptation might be even enough for a man of God, and so would naturally dispatch someone to watch him 'in case'.”

“Your tales do not understate your talents, sir”, Mr. Falcone said, clearly impressed. “You are correct. The man in question was one Gianni Bianci. He has a reputation for being one of Rome's most trusted operatives, and was absolutely ruthless in his machinations. I very much fear that he has killed Father Calocerus and taken the cameos for himself. He was based in a small hotel near the property, and he checked out on the day they disappeared. He has not been seen since.”

“I need that physical description of him, if you please”, Holmes said.

“Forty-two, slim build, above average height and blond hair”, our visitor said. “He was of course extremely fit for his age and had striking blue eyes. He wore glasses, although he only needed them for reading.”

“Father Calocerus?” Holmes asked,

“Thirty-nine, slim to medium build, average height and no tonsure”, Mr. Latimer said. “He had fair hair, quite a good head of it considering that his brother is totally bald. I do not know his eye colour, but it would be on file if you needed it.”

“How did you know that the brother is bald?” I asked.

“He came up and identified the body”, Mr. Falcone said. “I did not meet him as he is a priest down in Rome and had to head straight back, but they told me that he had a dome as round and shiny as St. Peter's. The two did not get on; Father Calocerus had apparently made all his own funeral arrangements and had left all his worldly goods, few as they were, to the Church.”

“That is what I expected”, Holmes said, to the man's evident mystification. “What about the couple's nephew, who 'just happened' to be visiting?”

“Twenty-one, average height, portly and styles his hair in tight curls”, the man said, curling his lip in disdain. “ _And_ perfumes it. Plus he has an attempt at something which, I believe, he considers to be a moustache. The young nowadays!”

I smiled at his words. 

“You are not considering Mr. Latimer?” I asked Holmes.

“He is very much still on the scene”, Holmes said. “I believe that we are looking for someone who is not. Was a _post mortem_ carried out?”

“It was”, Mr. Falcone said, “but it only revealed what we already knew. The man had been stabbed and had died quickly. This being Italy the doctor remarked on the fact that it was likely not by a professional killer, as it was not in the most efficient place.”

“Did he remark on the condition of the dead man?” Holmes asked. Mr. Falcone looked puzzled.

“Only that he was in reasonable condition for a man of his years”, he said. “Not overweight the doctor said, but maybe a little above what might have been expected for a man of his age and build.”

Holmes presses his fingers together and thought for a moment, then smiled.

“What does His Holiness require of me exactly, sir?” he asked our visitor.

Mr. Falcone looked surprised at the question but answered readily enough.

“They wish to know the whereabouts of the Vatican Cameos, of course”, he said. 

“Items that Mr. Gianni Bianci is believed to have stolen?”

“Well, yes.”

“I presume that you have a secure means of communication with the Holy Father in Rome?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“I am going to suggest that you do the following”, Holmes said with a smile. “Tell the Pope that I am investigating the matter, and that he will have an answer exactly one month from now.”

“You seem very confident”, I observed.

“I can give you that answer today if you wish”, Holmes said laconically. “Let us relate the sequence of events as they actually happened, from the point of view of the man who took them.”

“Gianni Bianci”, Mr. Falcone said scornfully.

“No”, Holmes said. “Father Calocerus.”

We both stared at him in shock.

“But he is dead!” I objected.

“The man whom you buried under than name is, I can tell you, Gianni Bianci”, Holmes said. “Two things at least show this. First we know that the real Father Calocerus was a monk and more recently a hermit; hardly someone who is likely to be well-fed. Yet the man you buried was clearly getting enough food to sustain him if not more.”

I stared in shocked silence. Mr. Falcone was, I noted, clutching the side of the chair for support.

“The second thing relates to what really happened that day”, Holmes said. “Father Calocerus is a loyal Catholic, and when he is moved from his monastery to the house to monitor things, he knows that the house and the cameos will be seized by the Italian government very soon. He cannot save the house but the cameos, which are worth infinitely more, are another matter. Well wrapped, they can easily be concealed in a priest's robes.”

“He is fully aware that the couple's unpleasant nephew has financial difficulties, so he plants the empty case under the man's bed hoping to divert suspicion. People forget that hermits, like servants, have a lot of time to observe the world around them. He knows enough of Italian politics to work out that the government will also delegate someone to watch him too - _quis custodiet ipsos custodes?_ as the saying goes - although he does not at first know who that person is. However he realizes that if someone leaves the house in the days before the seizure happens and they happen to be carrying a small box, then the agent will most likely follow them.”

“He is fortunate. Gianni Bianci bursts into his compartment just as the train is about to leave the city. Italian trains are often of a poor standard, so I think it is a reasonable surmise that the train was a non-corridor one. The priest knows that the two men are similar enough in appearance and build for him to take advantage of that fact. Mr. Bianci does not suspect that a middle-aged priest would carry a weapon, let alone worst him in a fight. It is over in an instant.”

I winced at the image.

“Father Calocerus now moves fast”, Holmes said. “The only slight setback to his makeshift plan is his ring, by which the dead man will be identified as him, will not fit on his victim's finger. He only has time to don the man's clothes and leave his own clothes beside him, placing the ring in his jacket pocket....”

“But why the hurry?” Mr. Falcone demanded.

“Because he wished to pull the emergency cord and stop the train as soon as possible”, Holmes told him. “The body had to be found in the town, otherwise attention might start to focus elsewhere, possibly even down to Rome. There is of course easy proof of this theory; should you disinter the body and try to place that ring on the finger of the man – a man you have not seen because an obliging brother identified him for you – then you will find that it does not fit. You could summon from Rome someone who knows the agent by sight, or in this day and age even send them a photograph.”

“The brother lied?” I asked.

“There was no brother”, Holmes said, “or if there was he did not come to the town. On leaving the train Father Calocerus made his way to a barber's shop in town and had his head shaved – he must have mentioned to someone in the case that his brother was bald – and then 'identifies' the man he has just killed as himself. He then catches a later train to Rome where he visits the Holy Father and hands over his prize.”

It sounded incredible yet we both knew there was no other way that it could have happened. The diplomat stared at him, clearly aghast.

“So we have the cameos already”, Mr. Falcone said.

“But you must be seen to be making an effort to find them”, Holmes pointed out. “That is why I recommend waiting a month. The Italian government will doubtless learn of my efforts having only served to prove that what seemed to have happened was for once what really happened, and will drop their interest in the matter. And I am sure that, many years from now and after the papal situation is finally resolved, some mysterious private buyer will donate a set of coloured cameos to the Vatican in their will.”

۩۩۩۩V♔RI۩۩۩۩

_Postscriptum: Holmes turned out to be right on both counts. The Vatican City, the smallest state in the world, was created for the Pope under the Lateran Treaty earlier this very year (1929). Just three months later the Vatican Cameos 'miraculously' resurfaced, having been anonymously gifted to the Pope to celebrate his new earthly realm._

۩۩۩۩V♔RI۩۩۩۩


End file.
